May 5, 2014
A piece of Mars: In the center of this image is a 270 m crater (885 ft) that was nearly buried, along with the surrounding terrain, by dust. Since then, wind from the upper left has scoured the dust deposit, […]
April 28, 2014
A piece of Mars: This shows the location of the rover Opportunity as of late March, 2014. It’s been trolling around the rim of Endeavour crater. Just inside the crater, there are some large ripples (the biggest is ~10 m […]
April 21, 2014
A piece of Mars: Now here’s something that, as far as I know, can safely be labeled as “uniquely martian”. These dunes (or maybe they’re ripples) are ~25 m wide, and have formed from winds blowing from the upper left. […]
April 4, 2014
A piece of Mars: This 521×391 m (1709×1283 ft) scene shows a rocky plain with many small impact craters (the bigger ones are ~45 m, or 148 ft across). Dark rippled sand fills the floors of the craters. Why? Once […]
March 31, 2014
A piece of Mars: Mars can be a strange place. This is actually a sand dune on Mars not far from the north pole. Here it’s imaged in the springtime when the dunes are still covered in bright CO2 frost, […]
March 24, 2014
A piece of Mars: Looks like a millipede, doesn’t it? It’s something much larger and much less poisonous. It’s an ancient dune (or maybe a ripple) on Mars, that once stretched ~285 m (935 ft) from lower left to middle […]
March 17, 2014
A piece of Mars: Bet you didn’t know there were ribbons on Mars. Long, sweeping, velvety lines, delicately frayed at the ends. These are actually ancient ripples, formed by a wind blowing from right to left. Stripes on the ripples […]
March 10, 2014
A piece of Mars: It’s winter in the southern hemisphere, and dunes like these are covered in bright white CO2 frost. The sun is near the horizon (shining from the top of the image), so it creates stark shadows. That […]
March 5, 2014
A piece of Mars: What is this big swoosh? It’s a big dark dune. The dark/light striping across it is found in all of the dunes in this area, but what is it? We’re probably seeing the inside of the […]